


Distraction

by PersephoneBlck



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Early Work, Explicit Sexual Content, Extremely Dubious Consent, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-21 00:01:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13728786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PersephoneBlck/pseuds/PersephoneBlck
Summary: Yaxley has been obsessed with Hermione and will have her, no matter what the cost.I had posted this up on Adult Fanfiction net, and moved it over in hopes that kudos and comments will inspire me to finish writing my other fics.It's complete.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Already posted in alternate website, moving my finished works here

Yaxley hated being wrong. It was something that drove him to distraction. His once formidably organized mind felt like a crushed wasp nest, his thoughts unable to find their way back home. Instead his mind wandered back to her and what he thought of her. He had been wrong for so long.  
"Spare us. the brats of mudblood do not stir our sympathies"  
Well this particular mudblood stirred something in him. It just wasn't sympathy. As his mind wandered back to Hermione Granger. Everything about her captivated him, her wild hair, her petite frame, her intellect, the way that she stood up for everything that she believed in, and the way she trusted him nowadays. It had been 5 years since the end of the war and he and a few of the other Death Eaters had been deemed reformed.  
The Wizarding World could not afford the losses of locking up all of the families that had been involved with the Dark Lord, so after a few years of probation and lining government pockets with galleons, he was free to move around.  
During his time in probation he thought about her often, she had wormed her way under his skin. It didn't help that since she was a war heroine she often found herself on the pages of the Wizarding publications. Her beautiful face was often seen in the Daily Prophet. Everything from her advances at work with the Ministry and Potions to speculation on her love life was a matter of public interest. Now that he was back inside the ministry working closely with her he knew how to differentiate between the crazy rumors (She was not having Potter's lovechild) and the truth (that she had made advances in perfecting the Wolfsbane potion)  
He was working in the Department of Protection and Magical Law. He had to work from the ground up but rose quickly since he was familiar with the ministry protocols, and after proving himself valuable and independent he was second in command to Potter. He didn't mind having a boss that was so much younger than himself. Particularly when he was as closely associated with the witch that he had his eyes on.  
I'll have a lot more than my eyes on her before the end of the evening.  
That was the reason why he was so much closer to Hermione. He wasn't just assigned to protect her whenever she traveled, but had earned the respect of Potter. Thankfully Gryffindors had forgiving hearts and gullible minds.  
He had a first row seat to her professionalism, and her work ethic, that and her razor sharp wit made him want to possess her even more. He had opportunities to see her in those tight muggle clothes whenever she worked in her office.  
They were supposed to be professional muggles clothes. He didn't know how muggle men were able to get anything done when working if their women looked half as good as she did in those pencil skirts and heels.  
They both should have been careful about trusting him with her. Treasures like her should be guarded. It wasn't his fault that he took advantage of his closeness to her.  
He knew that she would be unable to control her interest in his family library, and as an excuse to offer her and Potter some reprieve from the cameras and the Wizarding media he offered his family house as an alternative place to meet. Away from prying eyes and ears they were able to conduct ministry business in a more relaxed atmosphere. She slowly let her guard down over multiple visits.  
He casually strolled into the family library with the window that overlooked his expansive family garden.  
He imagined having her next to the gardenias, just a few feet away from the Yaxley bridal altar where he would bind her to him.  
He was the last of his family line, and Corban Yaxley was still considered an upper class Pureblood. Sure he was well into his years, if he had been a muggle he would have been considered old. As a wizard however he was well in his prime, and in need of a wife and mistress for his family home and heirs.  
His ancestors particularly his father would be rolling in their graves. May they all rot in Hell. They had all been incorrigibly wrong. She was not dirt beneath anyone's feet. She would restore his family name and honor. Their future children would be the pinnacle of magical power. He just had to make sure that she had no choice in husband.  
Part of the reason as to the wild speculation into her love life was that it was extremely unusual for a young eligible witch to be found unmarried. Their society was still stuck in the middle ages were that was concerned.  
Which worked out for him. There were no real laws against binding a witch in marriage. It had just fallen out of practice.  
He had heard that even Malfoy had tried to fight his way back into her good graces for a shot to make her his bride. Every major family who had a son that was looking for a wife tried to curry her favor by inviting her to lavish parties and making donations to her charities, one misguided and gauche Italian Wizard had actually had a marble statue of her made and presented to the Prime Minister and Hermione during their last visit. Hermione had blushed scarlet at the state of undress of the statue and practiced extreme tact by asking for it to be placed up for auction with the proceeds directed to the educations of other muggleborns. He knew for a fact that Potter himself had bought it and had it quietly destroyed to save her any further embarrassment.  
His department oversaw her safety and he had the good fortune to use his position to get rid of many 'gifts' that potential suitors sent her. Thankfully no one had enlightened her or Potter about that. She was just grateful that she was able to work without having to fight her way to her office in a sea of letters from admirers.  
"Yaxley, I'll be heading home. Hermione, do you need anything before I leave?" Potter patted his robes absentmindedly while walking into the office next door that held the floo out of the Yaxley property.  
"No Harry, I'll be fine" She was still pouring over the papers on her lap.

"Miss. Granger is welcome to this estate as long as she wishes"  
He spoke clearly behind her. His hand itched to wrap itself around her hair and he imagined being able to hold her hair while he branded her body as his.  
It'll be her home soon enough

She didn't even flinch as his proximity. She didn't have a clue to his darker desires, she just kept on working.  
Potter and Yaxley walked over to the next office, where Yaxley saw Potter take the floo out of the manor, and proceeded to place the necessary charms to make sure that they wouldn't be disturbed. He summoned his top house elf and requested a light appetizer and some tea to be brought to the library.  
He walked back to the library, and found a sight he hoped to see for many years to come, she had stood up and placed some of the papers on the nearby table, and was currently bent over the table. Her exquisite backside screamed at him to run his hands over it. To claim her before she could stop him. He just needed to wait a few more hours. Everything was almost in place. He just needed her to have a taste of the tea to set everything in motion.  
As if on cue the house elf walked in carrying the tea and a plate tea sandwiches The tea looked like it was white tea, plain and appropriate, Yaxley knew that it wasn't. It would start something that she wouldn't be able to stop, in fact that no one would be able to stop.  
"Miss. Granger, you need to eat something. The last bit of food I saw pass your lips was early this morning. You have already worked thru lunch. I won’t let you starve yourself. Even if it is for the betterment of the wizarding world.”

She smirked at him, “Yaxley, stop mothering me. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself" She walked over to the tea tray and picked up a cup and served herself. He had a moment of elation when she brought up the tea to her mouth, but he saw a flicker of recognition go across her face. He was glad that he had studied her so thoroughly, that he was able to recognize the slight almost unnoticeable tension on her face. She turned to him and smiled.  
"Yaxley, could you please have some water brought up instead?" She placed the cup very precisely back on the tray. Delicately and smoothly. No wonder she had been central to Potter winning the war. She always seemed to figure things out.  
"Sure, just give me a second" He turned away from her and felt her relax. She was processing that maybe someone else had managed to infiltrate his kitchens and attempted to give her a potion, or him. She was able but he had been a Deatheater. It just took a second to disarm her, and vanish her wand and belongings to his personal quarters, and now he had her. Just a vibrant, beautiful woman and him. Her face showed shock but not fear. She moved behind the large desk and started looking for something to defend herself.  
"What are you playing at Yaxley." The tiniest crack in her voice as she screamed at him told him that maybe she was just a little afraid.  
"Corban, my first name is Corban, you need to learn to call me that when we're alone." He made sure that she saw his wand in his hand.  
"Now please put down the paperweight and sit down."  
She stood stock still behind the desk, looking at him wearily and at the tea tray. She made a choice to try and crash everything to the floor, to destroy the potion and maybe distract him. He jinxed her, just a small jinx a mild electric shock to have her jerk back. He never wanted to cause her pain, but she had to see reason. She was meant to be with him, to be bound to him.  
"What the hell is going?" she was breathing rapidly, searching the room for an escape route, the window behind her was too high for her to jump out. She was going to try and bolt past him. He would love to chase her, but he wanted to get this started, he could chase her later. He would have their entire lives to chase her.  
He flicked his wand, and had her sitting as if bound to the chair, it reminded him of the position his victims had when they were interrogated in the bottom of the ministry of magic. He felt a completely different kind of joy watching her now. There was a small expanse of flushed skin exposed to his gaze. He placed his fingers on it, she was deliciously warm.  
"Yaxley, look at me." She used a soft voice, a calm, reasonable voice. He met her eyes.  
"What is it that you want from me?"  
He loomed over her, he was after all a huge man, all long arms and limbs, and grabbed her hair making her look at his eyes.  
She stared back, she was angry.  
"All this trouble to fuck me? Yaxley! You couldn't have just asked me out for a drink?" She was struggling, attempting to use some sort of wandless magic to fight her way free.  
"What you detected in the tea is very similar to some lust potions, but that isn't what I was giving you. You ever heard of the binding? I wouldn't be surprised if you had, but this particular brew is very ancient magic tied to my house, and I am shocked that you think I would be satisfied with just fucking you."  
She stilled, somewhere she had come across it.  
"You wouldn't dare!" All the calmness was gone from her, she continued struggling against her invisible bindings. "It's illegal! You despicable...."  
She quieted as I held her face in my hands. "That's where you are wrong sweetheart. It isn't illegal, just frowned upon, I checked"  
I reached out and took a sip of the lukewarm tea, her eyes widening and I crashed my mouth on hers while I forced the potion into her mouth with my kiss. I tasted her and the pomegranates, and I felt myself harden at my impeding victory.  
She would be mine, and as my possession she would no longer be a distraction, but my wife, my mistress and my obsession


	2. Chapter 2

She couldn't breathe, and she couldn't stop berating herself for being so stupid, how could she have relaxed so much around him?

It just seemed so improbable that he would try to hurt her now that he was 'reformed', she didn't think she was worth a lifetime in Azkaban or the Dementors Kiss.  
What the hell was he thinking, more importantly how could she think her way out of this when he was pressing himself into her.

He was a massive man, she had know that since the time that he had grabbed onto her when they were escaping the Ministry, but since then it had almost always seemed irrelevant. Right now with his giant hands upon her she was forced to reckon with his physicality. He felt strong and if he was so unbalanced that he was trying to bind her to him, he could lose his mind and break her neck.

He had her tight against him but it wasn't a brutal embrace, more like what one would use when holding a small fragile pet than a prisoner.

His mouth was wrapped around hers in such a possessive manner that she was having a hard time processing what was happening.  
She tasted him and pomegranates. That sweet flavor must be coming from that tea. She hadn't smelled pomegranates, but she could taste them. 

The warning bells had triggered in her head, an image of distinctive spirals rising from the tea, and just a gleam reflected on top of the tea.  
It was a kind of Amormentia potion.  
He was trying to make her swallow a damn potion by kissing it into her mouth. She was trying hard not to swallow but he wasn't letting up on the pressure long enough for her to do much, she had to think her way out of this.

She swallowed and felt a heat spread to the rest of her body, it made her a bit hazy. She was trying to rein in her thoughts, and as he backed away it made it easier. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders and she willed herself to look into his eyes. They were dark and held the promise of devouring her and it frightened her.  
"You don't need to be so nervous, I promise not to harm you." He drawled in a low voice. She was so confused, he was acting so gently towards her, she could deal with him trying to kill her, heck she had survived Bellatrix, this was just too strange and crazy.  
She needed time.  
"Yax...Corban, could you please take off my heels" He smiled at the use of his first name. Maybe just maybe she could get out of this. He grazed his fingers along her legs and down to her ankles. He slipped off one heel and then another. Hermione took a deep breath, he was listening to her.

"You know, I wanted to claim you since I the war ended." He kept on looking at her eyes. They were almost electric with determination. She could see waves of magical power behind them. How was it that she had ignored him? He should have been on her radar. She had managed to evade being dragged into Draco's Malfoy’s seduction schemes, Theodore Nott’s clumsy invitations, and even Viktor Krum’s suave moves had not moved her.  
She was rapidly cataloging his behavior over the past 3 years. How he always took care of her, made sure that unwanted suitors left her alone, the man even knew what kind of lotion she preferred.  
"You smell like gardenias, I have a garden full of gardenias where we can build our family. I.." He kissed her hands, bowed his eyes down and almost seemed to be praying, he cuddled into lap like a small child.  
She tensed up, just a little she was frightened, and it was like flipping a switch he became an animal. He attacked her throat, bit into it and left a trail of marks down to her chest. He tore off her shirt sending buttons flying into the air like confetti. 

“You’re going to be mine, whether you want to or not!” It happened in a flash, he picked her up as if she weighed nothing, and laid her on top of the desk that still held the tea tray and her papers. He had her face in one hand and managed to pry her mouth open and pour in the rest of the tea before covering her mouth with another kiss. 

She had to calm down to breathe as soon as possibility arose.

She was still clawing at his back, and pulling his ponytail when he tore the rest of her ensemble off, she was starting to shiver in her undergarments and stockings.

He growled in approval 

“Corban, please stop! Please look at me” her voice was high pitched. “Please at least tell me what you given me.” That warmth feeling had begun to collect in between her thighs and she could feel herself becoming aroused, but there was something else behind the arousal, a different kind of primal hunger that made her want to have him and the terror that she should have been feeling was almost completely absent. She shook her head she needed to know what she was up against.

She could use some Slytherin tactics, she didn’t think fighting against him would have as much of an effect. He was a huge man and she now knew that he was more unhinged that he had let on, but he was currently branding her neck with his bites. She turned her head so her lips were resting against his temple, a mockery of a kiss to try and get him to slow down. It worked he looked at her again. She could see the lust written in his face, and knew that whatever she wanted to do she needed to do soon.  
"Please.. let me up, this isn't how I want our first time together to be..." she hesitated, and forced herself to look into his eyes. It was a terrible mistake,  
"You're right love, I must not forget propriety and take you before we are bound." He straighten up taking her with him since he arms were still securely placed around his neck. Her feet didn't touch the ground, heck like this face to face next to him, her feet couldn't even feel his knees, she felt helplessly tiny, and her plan had backfired. She could have just let him satisfy his lust and forget about the binding. He slid her body down his as he placed her feet on the ground, and she trembled when she felt his arousal. That had to be magically amplified, how the hell did he manage to walk with that between his legs.  
"The Yaxley family binding is a bit archaic, sweetheart, I know in time you will forgive me. I'll give you the wedding of your dreams after we’re bound" He shrugged out of his robes and placed them around her shoulders, and picked her up again, this time bridal style. "I promise to be as gentle as I can, I know that my size probably frightens you"  
Hermione closed her eyes, she needed to do something, his touch was making her head swim, she summoned her will and managed to wriggle her way out of his grasp, and hit the floor in a heap.  
"Sweetheart.." his voice was concerned, and Hermione fought with her mind to work out of her lust filled haze, and she ran out away from him, leaving his robes pooled at his feet. He was shocked and she had a good head start before he tore off after her. The farther she got from him the more she seemed to be able to control herself, fear was invading her heart.  
She was gulping air but she refused to slow down for fear of what he would do if he caught her again. This was her only chance. She needed to make it off the grounds, she saw the door that lead to the gardens if she remember correctly, maybe she could lose him and find her way back in the house, and her wand. It was her only hope and she took it.  
She looked back and saw that he wasn't far of, and he looked feral. She turned into the garden and frantically took twisting turns, left, right, another left, so many she lost count. She came to a standstill not from her burning muscles or the lack of oxygen but because she felt the magical wall that she ran into, she was in a clearing in what she assumed was somewhere in the middle of the garden, there was a ring of gardenias in the center, a few large smooth stones made larger circles around the gardenias, and around the edge of the clearing there seemed to be torches and small shrubs, not shrubs trees, pomegranate trees.  
She had run into a trap, and that was her last thought before her world went black.


	3. Chapter 3

Blue, electric blue like the portable flames she liked to conjure up. There was a circle of blue around the trees now. Her vision was coming back into focus and though she had a headache she could feel that the lust filled haze that had clouded her mind had intensified. She could also feel her naked skin next to the grass and then the smell of gardenias overwhelmed her. The torches on the outermost circle had been lit blue flames danced merrily. It made sense, it was dark early this time of year, if she looked up she would have seen the stars in the inky dark sky. Instead her eyes were fixed on Yaxley's bare back. If he looked imposing fully clothed, he managed to do a better job of it nude. His back was so broad and fit and would have been found in a muggle workout magazine if it wasn't for the scars. He turned around; he was holding a pomegranate in his hands, picking out seeds within the fruit and collecting them. His gaze turned to her, it was still full of hunger but he looked displeased.  
"I wished you would have allowed this to be easier for you sweetheart." He was a magnificent specimen. His chest was defined and he was toned, his member was mildly engorged, but even not fully erect he was huge, bigger than any of her previous lovers.  
"I should have known that your mind would overcome that weak lust potion."  
There was a small collection of bottles and a mortar and pestle in front of Yaxley. He was mixing things, he grabbed the floating platter and walked over closer to her, he crouched and she struggled to keep her eyes off his body.  
"The Yaxley binding is archaic as I was telling you, primal. It does however require that the bride enter on her own. You're the first bride in 3 centuries to enter on her own, and in such a quick fashion. I'm very pleased love. "  
He smiled at her and her heart skipped a beat. She kept telling her body to stop responding to him, but it was very difficult. She began digging her nails into her palms to help her focus.  
"I don't want to please you." She spoke thru gritted teeth. She glared at him even as her body started arching towards him.  
"You entered on your own sweetheart. Your body seems to want this. You'll please me tonight and every night from now...." he grabbed her hand and forced her to stop digging her nails into her hand. The contact elicited a shiver from her. "You'll please me in every possible way that a wife pleases her husband and lover and I'll return the favor."  
He placed his left hand in one of the jars that he had been working on. She could see the red sticky substance and started hyperventilating in anticipation of his touch. He traced slow patterns that burned and tingled and crumbled her resistance over her sensitive nipples. She had closed her eyes and almost screamed when he placed his tongue on clit. He was merciless as he licked and nibbled on her pussy. She was not able to stop her moans or her hips from bucking against him. His hands kept her under his control, but the more that he pleasured her the wilder her movements became. He stopped and positioned himself on top of her. He had gathered more of the sticky red substance and covered his erection on it. It looked frightening and she thought that the tingling sensation that it caused would have her orgasm under him in seconds. She felt like prey, but her logical brain refused to give in just yet. With the greatest effort on her part she managed to close her legs and shake her head no at him. He hesitated, poised on top of her. He locked eyes one her and leaned down to kiss her.  
It was the kiss that caused her emotions to go haywire, she started screaming while tears rolled down her face.  
“Please Corban! Please stop” She placed her palms against his chest, she knew that it was futile to push against him but she couldn’t go down without a fight. She was attempting to crawl away from him.  
“Yaxley! Stop this madness!” She screamed at him, it was unlikely that anyone would hear her but she wanted to break thru whatever he was thinking.  
“As I’m sure you’re familiar with the myth of Hades and Persephone. How he took her, and how he made her his bride” He looked calmer in the midst of her anger. He wasn’t going to stop. “Sometimes wizarding men need to have a firm hand and control their future wives, and this is how I am starting with you. I will never stray from you, and I will give you what you need. I won’t let your intelligence wither your body in the pursuit of knowledge. We will give this Wizarding world a bright future thru our accomplishments and our children. I will protect you from anyone that threatens you or our children”  
That sentence broke thru the lust, children, the bastard didn’t just want to fuck her out of his system or even keep her as a trophy wife. He meant to irrevocably bind her to him thru children. She knew that while bindings were permanent and she would never be free to marry again, she could throw him in jail after tonight and live free outside, but children would make her situation an unimaginable nightmare, she couldn’t even process what he meant about protecting her.  
“Yaxley, you can’t do this please don’t do this!” She was screaming herself hoarse but didn’t care she needed to get him to stop.  
“I know I’m a good deal older than you but in time you will find that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I can give you a lot of things young Wizards will not be able to. I will cherish you, and I’ll keep you safe.”  
He had moved himself between her legs again, and had firmly positioned the head of his cock at her entrance, the substance was sending electric shocks of pain and pleasure from her entrance. He grabbed her face in his hand again and looked her straight into her eyes,  
“I will love you more than anyone ever will.”  
She saw the circle of light intensify and then felt him forcefully enter her, she was very aroused so it was only mildly uncomfortable but he wasn’t very far in yet. She knew that he was massive in size and just prayed that he wouldn’t lose control and cause permanent damage.  
“Sweetheart, you’re divine!” His mouth had gone slack and he looked like he was completely happy, he pushed himself into her slowly, it was slow torture for her. His cock didn’t seem to have an end, just when she thought that her pussy couldn’t give anymore he pushed farther into her. Her heart broke when she started to feel the change in the magical atmosphere around the clearing, whatever he was doing thru this binding seemed to be going according to his plan. Despite her protests she felt her body respond to him, her pussy clenched around his erection and the rest of her body was tight in anticipation of him really starting to move. She had denied herself a lover in so long in pursuit of her career and now she couldn’t control herself, she moved her hips up to meet his and felt the base of his cock and felt his virility. Her heart was beating hard against her chest and as she placed her palm against his, she felt his heart thunder away under her palm. He kept up his frantic pace of pistoning himself over her, and as she came undone under him he bit into her neck. She heard him growl into her ear.  
“Welcome home Lady Yaxley”


	4. The end

15 years later  
Hermione stood at the Platform in front of the Hogwarts Express watching her youngest son happily board the train with his older brother. It was a day long time coming, and extremely bittersweet for her. Her children had eagerly been anticipating the day, she while extremely proud to be sending her two extremely smart children to school dreaded the day that she was mostly left alone at home with their father.  
Their father, even after 15 years she very rarely acknowledged that Yaxley...Corban was her husband. The morning after their binding she had woken up sore, scratched, and bound. She thought that it was her heart breaking that was causing the uncomfortable in her chest but she could feel him.  
There was a feeling of contentment that did not go with her mental state at all, it was so self-assured and haughty that she almost gave in to her desire to strangle him in his sleep.  
Her mind however talked her out of it, and told her to try and get out of here.  
She had known that morning that there would be very little chance of escape but she had to try. She managed to disentangle herself from the muscular prison of his arms, and slip out of bed. By some small miracle he slept on completely unperturbed by her movements or her wrecked feelings.  
Could he feel her like she felt him?  
He had brought them back to his chambers after their binding was done, but there was still no trace of her wand, but she thankfully found a sheet and wrapped it around her to try and keep herself warm.  
There was a cold dread that consumed her that she associated with dementors.  
She quietly slipped out of the room and upon placing her left hand on the door to try and quietly exit saw the silver band with blue sapphires and diamonds around her ring finger. She steadied her breathing to stop the sobs that were found in her throat. She couldn't panic again. She had to find a way out. She hadn't been that desperate since being trapped at Malfoy Manor right before Dobby had saved them.  
As she made her way to the library she made up her mind to try, once she was safely behind the library door called for Kreacher  
Kreacher?” She whispered into the air, the sound of thunder filled the room, and before her stood Kreacher, in a clean towel giving her a deep bow of respect. Their relationship had improved after the war, and since Harry had given him a direct orders to answer her summons she wasn’t too surprised to find him in front of her.  
The first words out of his mouth sent a shiver thru her body and she felt her heart break even more.  
“Lady Yaxley, how may I help you” He was looking at her with a mixture of pride and admiration that he usually reserved for Black family heirlooms and portraits.  
“Kreacher, can you please apparate me out of here?”  
“Lady Yaxley leave the Manor on the morning after her binding, no it’s very improper for the Lady to leave without at least alerting the Master.”  
He looked so concerned, and seemed to be fighting with himself. His deep bullfrog voice quivered a bit. “Please don’t ask me to go against such an honored Pureblood ritual as a binding Lady Yaxley, it would be a terrible thing to have a house elf perform”  
“How about letting Harry know what has happened?”  
He shook his head so that his bat like ears flapped, “Master Harry knows Lady Yaxley, and he seems displeased even when I tried to explain to him how much of an honor it was that Master Yaxley has chosen you as his wife. A Mud….. Muggleborn young lady as yourself has improved her standing in Wizarding Society with such a match. I told him this but he is still trying to get to the Manor and disrupt your honorable married state”  
Hermione was trying to ask the right questions. “What do you mean that Harry knows Kreacher?” Her best friend couldn’t have set her up? Harry would never have agreed to this.  
“It’s in the Prophet Lady Yaxley.”  
“What?” She was louder than she intended to be and that must have finally alerted Yaxley as to her location. She jumped as his heavy footsteps sounded across the hall, he was still a ways off, and even though she hated herself for it she turned to Kreacher  
“I didn’t ask you if you agreed Kreacher, I asked you to take me to Harry’s, now can you do it?” She was trembling slightly while she looked towards the door, she had maybe 30 seconds.  
With his ears flat against his head Kreacher reached out for her hand, and apparated her away from there, Yaxley’s scream ringing in her ears drowned out the pop of apparition.

Once they landed at Harry's she was greeted by Harry and Ginny who were both wearing shocked expressions. Harry was holding a newspaper and her picture was in the front under a headline that read "HERMIONE GRANGER WEDS CORBAN YAXLEY"  
Her physical appearance, confirmed what Harry had thought, she had not chosen to voluntarily enter a marriage with Yaxley. His shock and anger grew when Hermione pulled herself together and went over what had happened to her since Harry had left Yaxley’s place.  
Though she was mildly informed about bindings, it was Ginny’s look of horror at the mention of it that let her know that her life as she had known it was over.  
Binding were unheard of these days, but Ginny had been warned by her mother anyways, she was after all one of the few pureblood witches left in England, and it had apparently happened to a distant relative of Mrs. Weasley over 300 years ago.  
She gave into tears and sobbed her heart out with her friends. She was overwhelmed, and upset, and she felt rejection? That wasn’t her own feelings she recognized, it was a foreign feeling, an echo that she felt in her soul but again had no attachment to how she felt.  
She knew before he got there that he would be heading for her. How did he know where she was? Was it because he had been part of her daily activities for so long or because she had been bound to him. She remembered reading that some bindings were made to order, to suit the wizard. There had been records of older, or ill wizards binding healthy witches to prolong their lives at the cost of the woman’s health. Of wizards somehow taping into their wives magical power to extend their own powers.  
What had he specified during the ritual?  
She half wanted to let Harry beat him senseless or at least have Ginny hex him into next week, but didn’t know how that would affect her.  
She let Harry and Ginny know her concerns and they both agreed to keep the real situation between them, while they found out more about the binding.  
.  
As Yaxley made his way up the Potter’s front yard Harry went outside to meet him.  
Harry dropped his wand, he had learned that in the pureblood echelons it was considered beyond the pale to attack an unwanded wizard with magic, so in the front of Harry’s yard they proceeded beat each other physically.  
Yes Yaxley had the size advantage, but Harry wasn’t helpless, he had after all survived the Dark Lord. Yaxley earned himself a black eye for underestimating Harry.  
Hermione was in no way satisfied but didn’t want the Prophet to show up and start taking pictures.  
The second that she screamed at them to stop Yaxley did. His fist still pulled back, she nodded towards Harry and he understood her.  
She felt a small stab of jealousy from Yaxley at her relationship with Harry. He hated that they could communicate wordlessly.  
With Ginny and Harry’s agreement they headed back inside the Potter residence, and proceeded to talk.  
During their discourse he said something nonsensical  
“Isn’t Luna still single, if word gets out about what really happened at the manor it might give Blaise Zabini or Gregory Goyle ideas”  
The statement took a while to process but it finally clicked, if she made a scene then everyone would know what had happened and though she didn't care about being in the spotlight or sending him to Azkaban she could not condemn other witches to her same fate.  
That asshole knew what to say to get her to stay silent about this, at least till she learned more.  
She willingly went with her husband, back to their house. She refused to call it her home, and enjoyed the further detached feeling of rejection that washed over her.  
Was the blonde giant even crazier that she thought he was, did he really think that she was going to be delighted to be bound against her will?  
The Manor was large enough that she could avoid him. He attempted to win her over, to seduce her. It wasn't until he agreed to help her close the loopholes in the Wizarding Laws that bound her to him that he made any headway with her.  
Harry and Ginny kept on taking turns checking in on her, and fielding questions from the rest of their families.

The highly sanitized version of events that made it to the public made it seem that they had been deeply in love and eloped without alerting anyone.  
Hermione and Yaxley were given a couple of weeks off from their respective positions in order to celebrate their marriage, and during this period of time they started their research sessions.  
It was during the first session that he let her know that he enacted a ‘gentler’ binding than what was usually used by his family. He had not bound her power to his, or her will. She would be able to remain her own person.  
He said that he loved her, and she saw him flinch at her rising anger.  
“How can you possibly love me Yaxley!” He shrank a bit as she screamed at him, an impressive feat for him.  
“I do, can’t you feel it? I added our emotional connection in hopes that you would let yourself feel the depth of my devotion to you so you would know that I did it because I love you. I didn’t need power like those other men that were chasing after you……” He was looking at her with so much sincerity  
“I would do anything for you.”  
Shock replaced anger and as her anger abated she could feel some sort of warmth from his end of the connection, but she was rightfully angry, and she knew that her anger could burn long and hot.  
She managed to block out those feelings from him. She felt like she was practicing emotional occlumency.  
He felt her shutting him out, and then he delivered some more details about their binding.  
He let her know that her physical wellbeing depended on physical contact with him. At first she thought that he must have been lying, and at first he was the only one that looked under the weather, but after 3 weeks of “married bliss” she started feeling run down. Apparently anger had been able to carry her thru this effect of the binding but then it hit her with full force.  
She felt physically exhausted and drained, it was like a lovesick flu. The physical aches and pains were awful, but the despair that she felt from Yaxley was making everything worse. Their feelings were mixing together because in her weakened state she couldn’t block out everything.  
It was too exhausting to be angry with him all the time.  
This was a nightmare.

She never wanted anyone to experience what she had been through. To be trapped in a marriage by someone they didn't know or love. To have continuous physical contact with the man that had sexually assaulted her become a part of her routine.  
She had not agreed to sex yet, at first she thought that it was the smart way to go about it, but the small physical contact that she put herself thru to not make herself sick, holding hands, sitting close together with his arm around her, and the time that she spent one on one with him working on closing the loopholes fostered a fragile form of intimacy between them.  
It was also impossible to keep shutting him out thru the emotional connection, and she couldn’t be angry for long periods of time without making herself sick  
They had been in a different study in his manor, she still refused to go into the study were this travesty of a marriage had started when it happened. She had been serving some tea when she unconsciously served him a cup to his liking. As she was walking it over to him, she felt his foolish romantic hope flutter in her chest.  
She chucked the tea cup at his head and walked out, slightly satisfied when she felt his sadness seep into her mood.  
For his part he was solicitous and gracious and he tried his very best to please her to no avail. It had taken 3 months of them working together on their side project of closing the loopholes, and instead of making her happy to know that no one would be bound like this again, she was despondent.  
She was also making herself ill, trying to keep up appearances at work. Having to stomach people coming up to her and congratulating her. Having unsolicited questions of when they were going to start a family be brought up.  
Did people really have nothing better going on in their lives that the state of her uterus was something that actually occupied their minds?  
Mostly it was the damn conflicting emotions that surged thru her on a daily basis and the confusion of feeling well when they touched that were driving her mad.  
She felt like a schizophrenia patient.  
She was still so angry at him, but the feeling of adoration that squeezed thru when her guard was down, along with the feeling of wellness when they were together was too much for her  
Going over all the available materials and sources had cemented it in her brain, that there was no way out of this arrangement ever. She had lost weight in the last 3 months, something that even her supervisors at work could see.  
Her work supervisors had forced another mandatory vacation on her. So there she sat in the study were this had all started with tears going down her face.  
That’s how he found her  
He kneeled in front of her, a bouquet of gardenias in one hand, she didn't seem to notice him, she was so deep into her anguish that she managed to block out the blonde giant at her feet.  
He tentatively reached out and tucked a stray hair behind her ear  
"Sweetheart please...." he rested his large hand on her lap and she still didn't react, except that more tears fell down her face. She was just heartbroken. For the first time in 3 months she had completely given up all hope. He hadn't hit her, berated her, or kept her from going about her social life or going to work, but she couldn't think her way out of this one and it had messed with her psyche.  
If she forgot about the binding, and looked at the rest of their marriage she could objectively see that it was at least not a terrible marriage.  
Corban did love her, and he was very attentive to her she couldn’t deny that. She looked up at his face and saw the sunken cheekbones, the greyish pallor. She felt guilt, she wasn’t a mean person by nature and even her anger had dampened some after 3 months of exhaustion.  
She had been thinking while she sat there, what were her real choices.  
She wasn’t the first woman in history to go thru this, the only reason this didn’t happen in the Wizarding world more often was that it had fallen out of fashion.  
Women throughout the ages had been thru what she had, even in the muggle world arranged marriages and bridal kidnapping excited.  
Some of those women found some sort of happiness with the men that took them, but Hermione couldn’t truly forgive Yaxley.  
Short of murder or suicide there was no way out of this, she could be actively unhappy for the rest of her life or try to make the best of it. Thinking about making Corban happy made bile rise up in her throat.  
She chose the least terrible of the choices, she would try to make the best of it while making him suffer. She couldn’t forgive him.  
As she walked up to the Manor from the apparition point she decided to take a stroll to the gardens. Years ago she had them fashioned in a way that suited her more, she hadn’t been able to obliterate everything that reminded her of the night of her “wedding” but enough had been changed that it became her favorite part of the grounds.  
She could see him sitting on a bench, he seemed to have had the same idea. To try and enjoy the milder weather before winter came.  
He was still a wonderful physical specimen, years of marriage had let her learn his body, and she didn’t know if it was due to their binding or just spending so much time together but she knew his mind.  
After years of isolation he had been desperate for love, genuine love and she had withheld it. His obsession with her had been due in part to a desperate hunger for virtues and qualities that had been missing from his life. He thought that by being with her he could experience love.  
Love at least as he had understood it, possession of a woman that he coveted and in his own way admired.  
His only source of genuine love as far as he knew were their children. He adored them and they adored him. Hermione didn’t have the heart to let them know that their marriage wasn’t a happy one.  
They had been pretending to be normal for 15 years, but she had become good at hiding her feelings from him. To everyone else outside of Ginny and Harry their relationship had been impetuous and romantic.  
She let him feel her sense of pride as she approached the bench, and then her surprise at finding him there. She could feel the hope rise in his chest, and knew that he would turn to look at her, it was with deliberate rejection that she let him see her walk away from him and into the manor.  
Yaxley may have been a ravenous monster that took what he wanted, but Hermione was smarter. She was the monster that was going to make him suffer for the rest of their lives, by constantly holding what he wanted out of reach.  
Her love.  
The end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review or send kudos I am trying to get back into writing with some regularity


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